Edward Teach
Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was a fearsome pirate captain in command of the mighty ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. Blackbeard will return to Nassau to settle some unfinished business, but a great deal had changed during his absence, and he will have to disrupt cemented alliances and challenged new ones to achieve the impossible. Biography Background Edward Teach was one of the pirate captains who operated from New Providence Island at the beginning of the eighteenth century. He was one of the original co-writers of the Pirates Charter and the mentor of Charles Vane, who he sees as the son he never had. However, Vane became the lover of the black marketeer Eleanor Guthrie, and she convinced him to switch sides and to join with her. Teach had no choice but to leave Nassau, or kill Vane. Blackbeard abandoned the life on the high seas and took the Royal Pardon, settling in the Colonies. Living in Virginia and Carolina under the false name Drummond, he was landed gentry, and was doing well. For eight years, he went through nine wives in search of a son. But he was just deeply unsatisfied, falling and succumbing to the society he left behind, with no heir apparent. Season Three In Bath, Carolina, Blackbeard learns that the Guthries have been deposed in Nassau. He decides the time is right to return to Nassau, and reconnect with his former protégé, Charles Vane, whom he regards as the son he never had. Before he can leave, the brothers of his latest wife, Mary, board his ship and demand that he keep his vow to their sister. Blackbeard kills them all with pistols shots. Blackbeard arrives in Nassau, and finds Vane in a tent near the fort. Vane is at first unclear of Teach's intentions, but Teach tells Vane that he forgives him for betraying him for Eleanor. Teach and Vane sit down with Jack Rackham to discuss their plans to defend Nassau from the approaching English fleet. Teach is less than impressed at Rackham's status as a partner, because he remembers Rackham as a scrawny crew member. He sees it as a sign that Nassau has become weak. Rackham and Vane continue with their plan to defend Nassau without him. However, with the fort not yet finished, and their only true navel strategist Captain Flint missing, some are resigned to defeat. Blackbeard offers to step in and coordinate the pirate fleet, provided that Vane becomes his protégé again. The pirates fight to save Nassau proves short-lived. Governor Rogers offers pardons to all pirates, save Vane, and most accept. Vane is trapped in the fort, with a price on his head. When Vane tries to fight his way to the docks, he is eventually outnumbered in an alleyway. Fortuitously, Blackbeard appears, and the two combine to fight their way to Blackbeard’s ship. That night, with English fleet blockading the harbour, Teach and Vane send a fire-ship straight at their line. Rogers’s fleet break their formation, allowing Blackbeard to sail away. Blackbeard and Vane capture a Spanish ship, and find Spanish intelligence notes that mention Vane, Nassau, and a spy within Rogers’s entourage. Flint eventually tracks them to Ocracoke Island, wanting Vane to rejoin him in retaking Nassau, and bring the fleet with him. Teach refuses to step aside lightly. To decide the matter, Flint and Teach choose to duel. Teach wins the duel, but before he can deal Flint a mortal blow, Vane steps in, having finally decided his loyalty. Vane fights off Teach to the point that Teach lays down his sword and orders them both off his island. Weeks later, Blackbeard and his fleet are still encamped on Ocracoke Island, when news reaches them that Charles Vane has been hanged in Nassau. Teach leads his fleet to the Maroon Island to confront Flint over his part in Vane’s death. However, when he arrives, Rackham persuades him join the fight against the English fleet. While the two fleets engage cannon fire, Anne Bonny leads a boarding party swimming unnoticed to capture one of the English ships. They open fire on the rest of the fleet, forcing them to retreat. The victory may have convinced Teach to respect Rackham. Season Four After their victory on the Maroon Island, Blackbeard and the alliance of pirates set their sights on retaking Nassau. What was supposed to be an invasion of overwhelming force, only ends in disaster. Woodes Rogers continues to demonstrate his cunning; before the approach, he intentionally sank ships as a hidden blockade. Most of pirate fleet run aground on the underwater wrecks, within range of Nassau’s cannons, and bloody carnage quickly ensues. The only ship not caught is Blackbeard’s, which makes a tactical retreat to draw Woodes’ fleet away from the survivors. Blackbeard and his crew manage to turn and defeat the pursuing navy sloops, and return to blockade Nassau port. He sends a message in the form of a ship full of hanging corpses, and demands one thing… Eleanor Guthrie at the end of his sword. Skeptical that Rogers will comply, Blackbeard then orders Anne Bonny to lead a vanguard into port to kidnap Eleanor, instead of pursing the Governor’s ship which is preparing to sail. However, Bonny confides to Jack Rackham that she has no more room in her heart for vengeance. It’s up to Rackham to relay these sentiments back to Blackbeard. Rackham eloquently persuades him by invoking their mutual fondness of the late Charles Vane; Vane always focused on the best move to achieve their ultimate goal. Go after Woodes Rogers it is. At sea, Blackbeard is closing in on the Governor’s ship. After raking the ship with cannon fire, Blackbeard himself leads the boarding party. Once aboard, something doesn’t feel right and with good reason. Rogers springs his trap and a bloody battle ensues. In the end, the unthinkable happens; Blackbeard is captured. Rackham and the crew aboard The Revenge watch helplessly from afar, and unfurl the white flag. Rogers has Blackbeard strung up by the ankles over the side of the ship. While the crew look on, Blackbeard is callously keelhauled, dragging him under the ship covered with razor sharp barnacles. After the first pass, he’s so bloodied and scraped. The second pass sees Blackbeard apparently dead, as his entire body is flayed, but not so; he coughs up sea water. Everyone looks on as Blackbeard’s brutalised body is dragged from the water for a third time; miraculously still alive and defiant to the end. Woodes grand moment has been ruined, and he petulantly shoots him in the head at point blank. Personality Edward "Blackbeard" Teach’s piratical career is so notorious that the mere mention of his name strikes terror in honest men and pirates alike. He is an extremely dangerous fighter and an excellent tactician. Though all pirates use pistols, most carry one or two, he carries a brace of four of them. He also only respects captains with strength, like Vane and Flint, with no respect for the wits and cunning of Rackham. He feels like Vane is the son he's never had, and bears him no ill will for his betrayal. He originally walked away from Nassau, because he would have been forced to kill him. Despite his seeming strength, he is dying from a piece of shrapnel in his chest, which is part of his reason for reconnecting with Vane. He doesn't say a word when he learns of Vane's death, but the look in his eyes shows his fury. He remains defiant to the end; even after being keelhauled three times, he spits blood in Woodes Rogers' face. Trivia * Blackbeard's famed flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, was an English frigate refitted by the French. It has not yet appeared in the show, but since it was not captured until late 1717, the series may be striving to reflect history in this respect. * Evidence suggests that Blackbeard was finally killed by Lt. Maynard, he had been stabbed close to twenty times and shot five times. * Blackbeard got his name due to braiding his beard with lighted tapers so as to appear more fearsome to his victims. * In the show, he mentions having had nine wives, but the real Blackbeard may have as many as fifteen. So he still has six to go. * Israel Hands was famously the First Mate of Blackbeard, in real life. * In real life, Blackbeard started his career as Benjamin Hornigold's second-in-command. In the show, this relationship is never mentioned. Memorable Quotes "Strife is good. Strife makes a man strong. For if a man is capable of confronting death daily, functioning in the face of it, there's no telling what else that man can do, and a man whose limits cannot be known is a very hard man to defeat in battle" Teach to Vane and Rackham. "Strife is good. Strife makes a man strong. For if a man is capable of confronting death daily, functioning in the face of it, there's no telling what else that man can do, and a man whose limits cannot be known is a very hard man to defeat in battle" Teach "So we have one fleet and two men claiming it. There is only one way I know of to resolve that. Pistols, then swords." Teach to Vane Appearances *''I.'' (mentioned) *''XIX.'' *''XX.'' *''XXI.'' *''XXII.'' *''XXIII.'' *''XXIV.'' *''XXV.'' *''XXVI.'' (mentioned) *''XXVII.'' *''XXVIII.'' *''XXIX.'' *''XXX.'' *''XXXI.'' External Links * Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Captains Category:Pirate Category:Historical Characters Category:Killed by Woodes Rogers